Mike Wolanin | The Republic Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting is shown during an interview at his office in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
9:15 a.m. This story has been corrected to correct the following information.
Because of a Republic error, a quote was incorrect in a Monday story about the Bartholomew County Coroner’s office obtaining a new van. Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said he loathed the statement that “we’ve always done it that way,” as the reasoning for using personal vehicles for coroner’s work in the field.
ORIGINAL STORY
The Bartholomew County Coroner’s office now has its own vehicle, something that had been requested from the county for some time.
After the Bartholomew County Council approved the appropriation of $53,000 for a new Dodge van, Coroner Clayton Nolting said he was able to buy the vehicle from the Columbus Automotive Group.
“Basically, it’s the same type of vehicle you see Amazon or FedEx drivers use all the time,” Nolting said.
An additional amount of money has been set aside to retrofit the van to store numerous items that may be needed in a death investigation, Nolting said.
It might be easy to assume that the coroner’s office would be near the top of the list to receive an official county-owned vehicle. But that wasn’t the case while Nolting spent 10 years serving as a deputy coroner.
While Allen K. Smith II was elected coroner in 2008, voters made the late Larry Fisher coroner again in 2012. He alternated the elected position with his wife, Joyce, over a 36-year span of time that ended with Larry Fisher’s 2016 retirement and Nolting’s successful bid for the office.
When the Fishers were in charge, they owned a van to transport bodies from a death scene. The same vehicle was used to deliver flowers from their business, Fisher’s Flower Basket, as well as for personal business. The county saved a great deal of money when the Fishers leased their van to the county for $1 a year. In exchange, the county agreed to insure the vehicle whenever it was being used for county business, Nolting said.
The coroner said he loathed the statement “We’ve always done it that way” in regards to use of personal vehicles by coroner staff members in the field.
After Nolting assumed office in early 2017, he bought a Chevrolet Suburban and used his full-size sports utility vehicle for coroner business.
“I absolutely loathed (the arrangement), but that’s the way it’s always been done,” Nolting said. “We didn’t know any better.”
That began to change about a year ago after the coroner and his deputy, Jay Frederick, began discussing options that included obtaining a professional county-owned vehicle, Nolting said. After getting in contact with other county coroners from throughout the state, Nolting and Frederick learned all of them had vehicles provided by the county, Nolting said.
After the Dodge van is retrofitted, it will have the capacity to hold items used by coroners that include crime scene tapes, traffic cones, body bags, aquatic body bags, chemical deodorizers, crime scene logs, cameras, extra batteries, chargers and crime scene lighting, Nolting said.
It will also have a Stryker power cot capable of lifting heavy individuals into the vehicle, which could prevent first-responders or deputy coroners from injuring themselves.
“We will also want to store respirators, filters, chemical tape, mold and mildew remover in built-in storage areas,” Nolting said. “Everything we need to do a full containment of a very serious case.”
Over the past several years, a lack of space forced the coroner or one of his deputies to leave a death scene, travel back to the coroner’s office in downtown Columbus, and pick up equipment, such as protective body suits, as they had no room to carry everything on a regular basis.
On Monday, the commissioners also approved a contract to add a new deputy coroner. It calls for paying the new deputy $500 per year and $200 per case. Nolting said the new deputy would need specialized training to become certified before taking on the new duties.
